Ernie Irvan

ARTICLES ABOUT ERNIE IRVAN BY DATE - PAGE 2

The way things went Wednesday in the opening practice for Saturday's Brickyard 400, it appears Fords are the cars to beat--again. Led by defending champion Dale Jarrett, Ford drivers had four of the top five practice laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That showing gave Chevy drivers more ammunition in their continuing complaint to NASCAR that Ford has an aerodynamic advantage. Jarrett, coming off a victory July 20 at Pocono, led the way with a lap of 178.980 m.p.h., followed by teammate Ernie Irvan at 177.943.

Ernie Irvan, who made one of auto racing's great comebacks after he was nearly killed in a crash three years ago, won't be driving for Robert Yates after this season. Yates, owner of Robert Yates Racing, said Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., that he is not renewing Irvan's contract, and the decision is his alone. "I've worried and wrestled with it for more than a year, and it's not a simple, one-answer deal," said Yates, who also fields Fords for NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett. Irvan is 16th in the Winston Cup standings.

Ernie Irvan won a thrilling battle at the track where he sustained near-fatal head injuries three years ago, driving away from the lead pack after the final pit stops Sunday in the Miller 400. Irvan, who started in the 20th position, evoked memories of the "Swervin' Irvan" of old as he charged past 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott with 37 laps to go after a hectic, side-by-side fight for the lead at Michigan International Speedway in...

Sunday's Winston Select 500 at Talladega Superspeedway may come to be known in NASCAR lore as "the Great Dyno Drama." Friday's surprise test of the engine in Ernie Irvan's pole-winning Ford backfired on NASCAR Saturday when it was determined the motor had been severely damaged. Irvan's Ford and the Chevrolet of Sterling Marlin, the fastest driver in a General Motors product, were impounded by NASCAR officials. The horsepower of the two engines was to be determined through the use of a portable device called a "chassis dyno," which allows testing without removal of the engine from a car. Winston Cup director Gary Nelson "drove" Irvan's Ford, going through the gears.

Terry Labonte's record-setting race was overshadowed Sunday by Rusty Wallace, who won the Goody's Headache Powders 500 for the fourth straight year. Labonte, breaking a tie he forged a week earlier with longtime stock car king Richard Petty, drove in his 514th consecutive Winston Cup event, a streak dating to the opening race of 1979. Although he led as late as Lap 414 in the 500-lap event on Martinsville Speedway's .526-mile oval, Labonte had to make a series of pit stops because of a brake-fluid leak and wound up 24th.

How much do Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing want to win the Daytona 500? "We spend more time testing here than probably 10 other tracks together," Earnhardt said Saturday after taking care of one important first at Daytona International Speedway by winning the pole position for the Feb. 18 race. The seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion firmly established himself as the favorite to win the one major event that has eluded him by taking the pole with a lap of 189.510 m.p.h.

Mark Martin won the race, but the real celebration Sunday afternoon at North Wilkesboro Speedway was for the return of Ernie Irvan. Racing on the Winston Cup circuit for the first time in more than a year, the 35-year-old driver started seventh, led 31 laps, hung tough all day and finished sixth in the Holly Farms 400. Amazing. Utterly amazing. Perhaps even doubly so, given that last year at this time he was beginning to recover from race-related head, brain and chest injuries that almost killed him. Race again?

Ernie Irvan stole the spotlight from pole-winner Ted Musgrave on Friday at North Wilkesboro Speedway as he officially began his Winston Cup comeback. Irvan, who sustained near-fatal injuries in a crash on Aug. 20, 1994, during a practice session at Michigan International Speedway, qualified seventh for Sunday's Tyson Holly Farms 400 on the .625-mile oval. Still bothered by double vision in his left eye, Irvan turned his lap of 117.641 m.p.h. with a black patch fixed tightly over his damaged eye. Earlier, Irvan qualified second behind Mike Skinner for Saturday's 150-mile SuperTruck race.

It is possible that Robert Yates never heard the question uttered before, but nevertheless he knew it was out there. "I could almost hear 'em wanting to ask me, `Are you a jinx?' " said the owner of a star-crossed racing team that has endured the trials of Job over the last three seasons. Once a championship contender, Yates' Texaco-Havoline team has, in rapid succession, lost driver Davey Allison in a fatal 1993 helicopter crash, lost driver Ernie Irvan in a near-fatal wreck at Michigan last year and, apparently, lost its focus in a dismal 1995 Winston Cup campaign with interim driver Dale Jarrett.